It happens more times than you could count. You stash your passport in your pocket. You pull it out, only to have bits and pieces of paper and cardboard spilling out of your pocket alongside your passport. Or, you put your passport inside your bag, only to realize later on what an idiot you’ve been to keep something so important buried underneath mountains of souvenirs and unwashed clothing.
There is no doubt about it. When you travel, your passport is your lifeline. To the countries you enter, you are no one without it. This is why you need a passport holder. A passport holder lets you keep vital documents together in a place you are not going to lose. Passport holders are becoming more popular the world over as people travel almost as frequently as they get married.
A passport holder can potentially save lives through preventing cardiac arrest. Remember the bad old days when you’d have bits of paper and cardboard spilling out of every pocket? Or those days when your important travel documents would be buried somewhere underneath mountains of souvenirs and unwashed holiday clothing? Well, passport holders are here to solve all that, and to save your family the embarrassment of having their dirty holiday laundry aired out at the check-in counter in front of the people who will be sharing the same flight for the next 12 hours or so.
What Is a Passport Holder?
A passport holder is not a little man who stands about four and a half feet tall. It is not some airport personnel you pay money to for holding your passport as he screams, “des planes, des planes!” once he sees the big birds winging their way into the airport. A passport holder is a kind of wallet or folder type contraption used to hold together a variety of travel documents, such as passports, tickets, boarding passes, insurance papers, and the like. Passport holders keep documents together in one easy-to-see, easy-to-find, recognizable place. Think of it as a place to collect all those “other socks” of the travel documentation world!
Types of Passport Holders
The most common type of passport holder is a simple clear plastic slip that acts as a protective cover. It keeps your passport looking nice and pretty. However, it has no purpose aside from being decorative. If you’re a serious traveller, you would need something more customized for keeping your nomadic life together!
You can go for a simple sleeve folder clutch-type passport holder where you simply slip your documents into the open pockets in each side, fold them up, and then let gravity take care of the rest. This kind of passport holder is great, until it gets tipped the wrong way or dropped on the ground. You can then watch your precious documents scatter all over the ground in the path of stampeding travellers, as the passport holder is knocked out of your hands. This kind of passport holder comes in airline regulation vinyl, which you get for free when you buy your ticket. It can also be made of expensive patent leather.
Passport Holders for Picky Passengers
To get the best value for your money and protect your passport better, get a passport holder that can hold, not just balance, your passport and your other documents. Some people use a money belt for this purpose. Some folks prefer what Americans call a “fanny pack” and the rest of the English-speaking world refer to as a “bum bag.”
Essentially, a passport holder should be constructed from a durable, discreetly colored synthetic material, similar to those used in the construction of modern travel luggage. Additionally, your passport holder should be large enough to contain your passport, driver’s license, and other essential travel documents. At the same time, it should be small enough so you don’t have to lug it around using a wheelbarrow.
Whether it’s Venice, Naples, or Milan you’re going to, you would need a passport. Let your passport travel in style when you put it inside a passport holder.